Judge new ethics panel by actions

FRED LeBRUN, Commentary

Published 9:41 pm, Saturday, December 17, 2011

Photo: Alvarez, Enid

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The announcement by Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore and New Castle Police Chief Robert Breen today on the unsealing of a three count indictment against Carlos Perez-Olivio for the murder of his wife Peggy Perez-Olivio on November 18, 2006 on Route 100 in the town of New Castle, NY held on Friday, December 21, 2007 in White Plains New York. BRFS1 less

The announcement by Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore and New Castle Police Chief Robert Breen today on the unsealing of a three count indictment against Carlos Perez-Olivio for the murder of ... more

Photo: Alvarez, Enid

Judge new ethics panel by actions

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In a stuttering step at the 11th hour, the state finally has itself a new ethics commission, just in time for Christmas.

Not an auspicious beginning for what was supposed to be a centerpiece of Andrew Cuomo's clean up Albany campaign. A priority, we were told. The governor insists it still is. Words are words.

But the perception, if not the reality, is otherwise. The appearance is that here is a commission dashed together at the last minute from a reluctant bag of minimally vetted candidates.

Cuomo signed the legislation creating the new super ethics commission in August. It takes effect Jan. 1. Four months of potential transition from the old failed ethics commission was therefore squandered. I'm told the new commission doesn't even have so much as stationery to begin its official life with only a couple of weeks to go before it has to be up and running.

That said, if the 14-member commission is to gain credibility, it must be given a clean slate in terms of expectations and performance in its oversight of the state executive and legislative branches.

Probably the hardest nut to crack in cynical Planet Albany at this point is keeping an open mind, not letting the failures of the past taint the future. Not that we shouldn't learn hard lessons from those failures.

In that spirit, I believe we should be heartened considerably by the commissioners picked, for whatever reason. Independent voices we respect say great things about the new chair, Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore.

True, she is in an awkward position. As head of the state district attorneys association, she is an unregistered lobbyist, but in her commission post she will be regulating lobbyists. That's no deal breaker. But DiFiore does have to spell out in a very public way how she will deal with that, including her own political fundraising.

Unlike many of my media colleagues, I am not put off by the backgrounds of some of the new commissioners. That they may have real life experiences is a plus, as far as I'm concerned. Personal integrity will shine through in the long run, or not. Remember, the previous ethics commission had a blue-ribbon panel of citizens above reproach, but it failed utterly because all it did was give the veneer of prestige to an agency that was nothing more than a tool of the sitting governor.

Of far greater importance than the commissioners' backgrounds is how they behave in their new positions, or are allowed to behave. How public they will be and how truly independent in voicing their feelings and casting their votes.

DiFiore said the organization's goal "is to raise people's trust and confidence in government." Laudable, but abstract. How will that be done?

The overwhelming lesson learned from the old ethics commission is that the new one cannot succeed if in perception or reality it is in the pocket of the sitting governor. If it is perceived as Andrew Cuomo's ethics commission, it is doomed no matter who sits on the commission. This is not a problem that's gone away, because nearly every governor would want to control an oversight group that could hurt or embarrass him. Andrew Cuomo is no exception.

Credibility will be determined by how independent and how public the process is once an investigation into a charge is completed. Here we have an ominous sign in the types of commissioners selected by the governor. Too many prosecutors. Of course the governor was one himself, and he favors them. How prosecutors have done in the executive chamber, either as advisers or governors, is at best a mixed bag.

Prosecutors by nature build cases that require a far more secretive process than is best suited for this commission, which should be primarily about shedding light on misdeeds, poor decisions, conflicts of interest, even minor corruption. And then meting out the appropriate punishments.

What should emerge from what has been a vast gray area is a reasonable standard of deportment for government officials. Not so much a high commission just looking to nail hides to the wall. By statute the commission is supposed to turn over the more serious issues it uncovers for others to prosecute or deal with anyway. Crimes are crimes, ethical lapses are frequently far short.

So there are several directions the commission can stake out, setting precedent as it goes along. This is all new ground, because oversight of the Legislature is now involved. Although as the Brennan Center at New York University points out to our general dismay, the Legislature's own ethics commission, which would receive cases for possible disciplinary action, still hasn't named the public's representative on its oversight board.